Poison Your Own System
by Safaia
Summary: Part 3/5 of the 'No Definition' series Arthur and Eames were two of the best in the business second only to Cobb and Mal. The Cobb's said they were no longer dreaming because they had a family now buty they were secretly studying depth. When the unthinkable happens Arthur and Eames are forced to run a job where there is something lurking in one of their team members subconscious.


**Poison Your Own System**

It was some god awful time in the morning, after a hard job where Eames had not slept for more than a few hours in three days, and the phone was ringing. Eames wished he still dreamed because then maybe this wasn't real and someone wasn't calling them. He didn't bother to open his eyes; instead he reached across the bed and poked Arthur in the ribs. There was no possible way the ringing hadn't woken Arthur up. Someone sneezing three rooms away could wake Arthur up, so the fact that he didn't react just told Eames that Arthur was not only ignoring the phone but also ignoring him. That didn't sit well with Eames for the several reasons, the main one being that he wasn't going to answer the phone.

"Arthur, get the phone," Eames said after the sixth ring.

"You get the phone," Arthur replied. Eames opened his eyes for the first time. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that it was two thirty in the morning. There was a conspiracy in the universe that kept him from getting anything resembling sleep. Arthur was on his side of their hotel room bed with his back toward Eames. In the six years that Eames had known Arthur he could think of maybe two occasions where Arthur ignored a phone call. While there was a brief two year period in those six years where they didn't see each other at all Eames was confident that Arthur's habits hadn't changed much.

"If I pick up the phone I'm going to tell whoever it is about the time you cried while watching cartoons," Eames slyly said. That got an immediate reaction from Arthur. Arthur was on Eames in seconds, pinning him down and glaring like he could set Eames on fire through sheer force of will.

"You wouldn't dare." Arthur said. Eames knew better than anyone how dangerous Arthur truly was, but after this long working together Eames knew Arthur would never really hurt him. He'd leave a bruise or two but nothing that would cause lasting damage. They were partners and, as Eames was often quick to remind him, he wasn't any use to either of them injured.

"I might dare or you could just answer the bloody phone," Eames said. Arthur took the phone from the nightstand and glared at the screen. "That bad? If I have to run to the airport in this state I'm going to be extremely cross."

"Worse." Arthur hit the button and put the phone to his ear. "Yes Cobb?"

Dominic and Mallorie Cobb were probably the only people outside of Arthur Eames could call a 'friend.' It was actually a job that the Cobbs organized that brought them back together. After a job went poorly and it became obvious that their enemies could sue their relationship against each other Arthur and Eames made the mutual decision to separate and act like never had never met before. It was pure coincidence that they were brought back together by Cobb years later .When Cobb put a gun in Eames' face, blaming him for Mal getting hurt, Arthur pulled a gun and stopped someone from dying from a twitchy trigger finger. After that they were acquaintances, if that, until they got an invitation to the wedding. Eames begrudgingly had to admit that Cobb and Mal were friends but it wasn't the wedding that cemented that.

Just under four years ago Arthur and Eames had found themselves asked to take on a messy job trying to extract the location of a young girl to kill her. When they refused to take the job their employer didn't take it well. After Mal and Cobb came back from their honeymoon someone set the four of them up. Eames and Cobb ended up in the hospital due to gunshot wounds while Arthur and Mal were held against their will until they agreed to do the job. Arthur and Mal refused, and their employer roughed up Arthur for five days, but he kept his resolve. Not only that but he protected Mal, who was not far along in her first pregnancy. Cobb and Eames, with the help of Mal's terrifying father Miles, managed to find them just in time. Arthur and Mal had a bond after that, and she was probably the only person, aside from Eames, that Arthur was comfortable enough to let his guard down for. Eames shared something with Cobb even if it was just the knowledge that both of them were willing to burn the world down for the person they cared about.

After that Cobb and Mal didn't do much work in the field. There were a few consultations but they were retired. Mal had Phillipa and yelled at Arthur and Eames so ceaselessly to come see her in the hospital that Eames was fairly sure he had somehow traveled back in time via timezones when they got to California. James came just under two years later and by then all consultations had ceased as well. Cobb and Mal were not dreaming at all anymore. Mal said, 'how am I supposed to have time to do that when I have two children under the age of four? Are you insane?' After their kidnapping Arthur and Mal were very close and, when Arthur and Eames would visit, they would vanish to quiet sections of the house and speak in low tones. Mal told Arthur everything to the point where Arthur knew she was pregnant with James before Cobb did. Arthur would grumble whenever Mal would call him at all hours of the night but he always picked up the phone.

Cobb and Eames, however, would spend much of their time talking about dreaming. Cobb always found forging fascinating and even when he dropped out of the business he still wanted to know everything that happened. On more than one occasion Eames had looked up and saw that several hours had passed during what was supposed to be a brief conversation. Cobb was an academic at heart and he always wanted to know every little change in dreaming. Arthur already knew it all and Eames liked having a captive audience.

Cobb calling at this time of day never meant anything good, and Eames groaned into the pillow. Arthur was right; it was worse. They were in Prague, it was two in the morning, and the mental math told him it was four in the afternoon in California.

"Wait, I'm going to need you to repeat that," Arthur said, frowning deeply. "Of course I heard you the first time. I'm not an idiot, I just don't believe it." Eames let his curiosity get the best of him and he moved so he was nearly on top of Arthur so he could eavesdrop.

"I said you should have heard how Phillipa just counted!" Cobb said like this was some sort of life altering event.

"Cobb, do you have any idea what time it is where we are?" Arthur asked tersely.

"Well, no, but-"

"It's late," Eames said loud enough that Cobb could hear. "or early. Did you know that we just finished up a job that required us to do three extractions on three people in less than three days?"

"Oh, no, I guess I didn't-"

"So that means we haven't slept much in the last month and almost none in the last three days. Instead of double checking what time zone we're in by sending a message or an email you decide to just call us to tell us about Phillipa counting high." Arthur had that dangerous edge to his voice that felt like it could make you bleed. Anyone sane person would be running the other direction, but Eames wasn't a sane person. Instead he shifted even closer so he was ear to ear with Arthur.

"This wasn't one of my best moments." Cobb said after a potent lapse of silence.

"Who are you on the phone with?" Mal yelled loud enough that the phone picked it up.

"I just called Arthur and Eames-" The conversation got cut off and there was the sound of various swear words in French and what sounded like a slap fight for the phone.

"Arthur, Eames, I apologize for my husband. He's apparently not well if he thought calling you was a good idea with this kind of news." Mal said while Cobb said something about that being hurtful in the background. "I need to get him to the hospital to get him checked out. Get some rest and come visit soon." The line went dead and Arthur stared at it for a moment.

"I'm starting to think we need some sane people in our lives," Arthur said.

"Ah, but the insane always know how to have the most fun." Eames replied. Arthur hummed in agreement as they both shifted around the bed so Arthur could plug the phone back in on the single nightstand in their hotel room. "We're finishing the clean up for the job this afternoon, yeah?"

"Yes and then we're not going to California no matter what horrible names Mal calls me." Arthur said stubbornly. They both knew that it took very little for Mal to convince the two of them to visit if she really set her mind to it, but Eames decided long ago if they didn't verbally acknowledge it then it wasn't true. Arthur collapsed back onto the bed and covered his eyes with his hands. Eames propped himself up on his elbow and watched as Arthur took some slow breaths to calm himself down. "Are you going to stare at me until I go back to sleep?"

"God no. I need my beauty rest." Eames grinned when Arthur moved his hands and rolled his eyes. "However, I do think maybe I can help you fall back asleep."

"Eames, I seriously don't think I even have the energy to have sex right now." Arthur replied.

"First of all, I'm offended that you think I don't know any other ways of helping you fall asleep," Eames replied. "And second,that wasn't what I was going to say. You need some time to unwind, and I have something I want to show you." Eames climbed out of the bed and began to reach into the very back of the closet. Hidden inside of a larger briefcase was the PASIV in its slick silver case. Arthur didn't look entirely okay with this idea which really wasn't a surprise. "Just five minutes to get our thoughts in order."

"Fine, five minutes, and no longer." Arthur said after a moment of silence. They arranged themselves on the bed with the PASIV between them. Eames ignored the sting of the needle as Arthur set the timer and got everything ready. "Are you building?"

"Yes." Eames watched as Arthur set up his own needle and lay down. "Ready?"

"Not telling me where we're going?" Arthur asked.

"I told you it was a surprise." Eames grinned and hit the button before Arthur could chirp in with a snide remark. The chemicals rushed through his system and the world bled into a bright white light.

* * *

For the last two months Eames had been working on this design in secret. He wasn't even sure if it was going to work, but it was a theory he wanted to test sooner rather than later. He and Arthur were already very close but Arthur's mind was still very on edge not that Eames' was much better. Jobs would be much easier if they could do more work without worrying about either of their minds tearing the other apart. Eames blinked as the city block began to take shape around them.

"This looks familiar," Arthur said carefully. "You know better than to build from reality; where are we?"

"Everywhere," Eames replied gesturing to the city dramatically. Arthur did not look impressed and waved at him as if to get him to explain more. "I've been thinking of a project for the two of us lately. Our minds can get a little hostile, but if we make a dream comfortable enough maybe we can keep our subconsciousness' from tearing each other apart."

"Minds that dream together do tend to get accustomed to one another. We're a lot better now than we were six years ago. However, that still doesn't explain this city." Arthur crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. Eames smirked and circled around Arthur until they were almost back to front. Arthur's arms were still crossed, he was trying to remain unimpressed, but Eames could read him better than anyone.

"We'll build it together," Eames said into Arthur's ear close enough that he could feel Arthur shiver when Eames' lips touched skin. "We each add things that we like. A cafe here, a bookstore, all from whatever places we want."

"You want to build a city of greatest hits," Arthur summarized.

"It'll be ours, and since each place is familiar maybe it will help keep our minds stable." Eames ran a hand down Arthur's side and smiled into his skin.

"Are you asking me to build a city with you, Mr. Eames?" Arthur asked.

"I'm asking you to help me build something just for you and me," Eames replied. Arthur turned around so they were nearly toe to toe. "Or something for us to destroy. Whatever your neurotic little mind feels like at the time."

"You're such a jackass." Arthur said, but he sounded fond so Eames smiled. Arthur shook his head, took Eames by the collar of his shirt, and kissed him hard enough to bruise. Eames pushed back, giving just as much as Arthur, until Eames had to break away before he broke a cardinal rule about sex in dreams. They stayed close, close enough that they were still touching even just a little.

"What'll it be?" Eames asked.

"Creating sounds like work; let's destroy," Arthur replied, and bit down on Eames bottom lip. Destruction sounded like a perfect way to clear their heads.

* * *

Eames' plan helped lure Arthur right to sleep just like Eames said it would, but at this point Arthur was fairly sure that Eames could read his mind. Sometimes it scared the hell out of him how well Eames could read him, but it had saved their lives so many times by now that resisting or resenting it was just stupid. Instead, Arthur liked to use it to their advantage. Over the last four years, since they started working together again, many team members had accused them of having some sort ESP. They could always find each other in the dreams, they both knew when to push and when to back off, and they if they both agreed they needed to get the hell out they were always right. They were in Prague at the moment and neither of them had any enemies there so Arthur wasn't expecting any issues. Even more so now that the job was over.

The alarm went off after what felt like not nearly enough sleep and Arthur wanted to throw the cheap clock radio across the room.

"Don't throw the clock radio across the room," Eames mumbled into the pillow.) Arthur smirked and got up to go shower. He gave Eames some more time to sleep, if need be, and by the time Arthur was finished getting dressed Eames was asleep again. Or at least he wanted Arthur to think that he was sleeping. Arthur walked over to poke Eames in the ribs and, like he thought, Eames wasn't asleep. Instead Eames tried to yank him back into bed but Arthur was faster. He had Eames on his back with his wrists pinned. "You take the fun out of everything," Eames said.

"Who says we can't have fun like this?" Arthur asked, because he was basically sitting on Eames.

"Because I know you and we need to get to the office so we can close everything up. Since I know you're not going to put out can I have my wrists back?" Eames asked.

"Okay," Arthur said shrugging. "You talked me out of it." Eames didn't let him get far; Arthur had barely released his wrists when Eames pulled him down into a kiss. They needed to get to the office, but they were both still exhausted from the job that Arthur let them make out like teenagers for longer than they probably should have. It was Eames who recognized that they needed to leave, and he practically threw Arthur off. He landed safely on the bed while Eames bolted to the bathroom calling Arthur some rather unflattering names. Arthur knew he didn't really mean it so he just laughed at how Eames had to make himself halfway presentable in less than five minutes.

"That was below the belt," Eames accused. They were driving to the office in the rental car, and Arthur smirked,.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I can't help it that I got lost in your eyes," Arthur replied as they stopped at a red light. Eames raised an eyebrow and they both started laughing. They were the first ones to get to the planning site and they spent the next hour or so gathering evidence. Their extractor, a woman named Lira, walked in drinking a cup of coffee that smelled strong enough to kill a lesser man.

"Of course you two are already here," she said. Their architect McCreedy, who couldn't be more Irish if he tried, joined them a little later. Arthur wasn't expecting to see the local chemist, Trev, but he showed up just as Lira and McCreedy were getting ready to leave. Trev supplied to most of Eastern Europe but usually kept his head down. He was one of the few chemists that didn't have a dream den but instead used willing participants to test his compounds. "Your money is on the way boys. Now try to stay out of trouble," Lira said.

"Can't be bothered," Eames said, waving her off. Lira rolled her eyes and hershe and McCreedy left. Trev lingered and he was chewed on his thumbnail nervously.

"Out with it Trev; what happened? If you ask me for help disposing a body before I've recouped some of my sleep you'll like me far less," Arthur warned.

"What? No, body disposal is easy if you know the right chemicals-" Trev waved his hand as if he could dismiss that part of the conversation. "No, it's just, you guys know the Cobbs right?" Arthur could feel Eames stiffen behind him. Not many people knew about their connection to the Cobb's and even then Trev was only two years into the business; he shouldn't know them at all.

"Yes, we do, why?" Eames asked.

"Oh, great, see I have an order for them and I can't travel right now because my mom is sick. Do you think you could drop off some Somincan for them? I'll compensate you guys, of course." Trev said. Arthur took a deep breath and released it slowly; Cobb told him nineteen months ago when James was born that he and Mal were done. Mal told him that as well, to his face, and he didn't catch the lie.

"Why do they need yours? Why not use a local distributor?" Arthur asked, slowly reigning in his anger. Eames, however, was practically vibrating with anger and muttered an excuse about needing a smoke to escape outside.

"They want depth, and stabilizing multiple layers is kind of my niche in this end of the world," Trev replied. That meant that Cobb and Mal were either taking on jobs that needed extreme depth and thus were more dangerous or they were experimenting with depth. Either way Arthur was furious that they lied to him. "So, you in? I can get them all set up so they'll pass through customs just fine." Arthur managed to find a smile that wasn't going to make Trev run for his life and nodded.

"Eames and I were thinking about going out there anyway," he said.

"Awesome, I have it in my car. I'll be right back." Trev jogged out of the building just as Eames was walking back in.

"I'm assuming you told him we'll do it," Eames said as he joined Arthur. When Arthur simply nodded Eames shook his head. "They lied to us."

"They lied to our faces." Arthur glanced at Eames and clenched his fists. He thought he could trust Mal and Cobb but maybe he was wrong. Maybe both of their instincts regarding them were wrong. Arthur wanted this to be some sort of mistake because he hated the thought of wasting energy on people he couldn't trust. Trev walked back in and handed each of them three smaller containers. The vials inside couldn't be seen through the glass of the containers and they simply looked like travel sized bottles.

"Are we making more than one pit stop?" Eames asked.

"What? No, the Cobbs wanted this many variations. I'll wire the money to you guys in just a bit. Thanks so much for this," Trev said, relieved.

"Oh no; thank you Trev," Eames said with his shark smile. Arthur ran a few scenarios through his head and every single one of them ended poorly. It came down to how much Mal and Cobb denied it and even if they confessed right away Arthur wasn't happy. He looked at the containers in his hand and closed his eyes. It was time to go find out what kind of people Dom and Mal Cobb really were.

* * *

Traveling with Somnican over several countries' borders wasn't very fun, but the containers that Trev kept the vials in were almost fool proof. They just looked like normal shampoo and lotion containers and the liquid had the right density that the vials didn't show up. That didn't mean that Arthur was any less nervous when they passed through customs in New York, but before long they were walking through the terminal with no issues at all.

"We should go to New York," Arthur said as they made their way to their connecting flight to California.

""We're in New York right now," Eames replied. "I know we haven't slept much but I know you're not that oblivious."

"No, you ass, I mean after the we deal with Cobb and Mal we should come back. Spend some time in the safehouse and take some small jobs," Arthur said, and he realized that Eames wasn't following him anymore. He turned around and saw Eames staring at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"I'm going to need you to repeat that," Eames said as he fumbled with his phone and held it up.

"Why?" Arthur asked raising an eyebrow. "Are you recording me?"

"Yes, of course, because no one is going to believe me when I tell them you suggested we take a vacation." Eames said, smirking. Arthur reached out and tried to take the phone but Eames was too quick. Eames moved it just out of his reach a few times before they started getting strange looks from people in the airport.

"I said we'd be taking on small jobs. Not a vacation," Arthur said when he gave up trying to get the phone from Eames.

"For you that's a vacation," Eames replied.

Their flight to California was uneventful, and Arthur nearly fell into the bed of the first hotel he could find. He hated that he was going to have to confront two people he thought he could trust about lying the next day. There weren't any secret between the four of them and Mal made sure to tell Arthur everything. Aside from Eames the Cobbs were the only other people who knew Arthur's last name. He had family attached to that name, people that could get hurt if it became public knowledge, and the thought that something so valuable was in the hands of people he wasn't sure he could trust anymore cut Arthur to the bone.

Eames lay down next to him and they didn't say a word to each other for hours even after they both got undressed and ready for bed. Arthur was about to climb into bed when Eames took his arm. He was about to ask what Eames wanted when Eames kissed him. It was deep and passionate like Eames knew how much having his trust broken shook up Arthur. They exchanged a few slow kisses before climbing in bed. Arthur closed his eyes and tried not to think.

* * *

Arthur really didn't want to get up. Getting up meant confrontation and he muttered a curse at the drapes that didn't block out all of the sun. They hadn't set an alarm – the things that needed to be said and done didn't have a specific time – so it was strange to wake up to the sun. Arthur rolled onto his back and saw that Eames was already awake. He wanted to ask for how long but it didn't seem right.

"Like ripping off a bandaid, yeah? Let's just get this over with," Eames said. Arthur nodded and they both wordlessly got ready. Checked out of the hotel, in the rental car, Eames drove as Arthur watched the countryside go by. Cobb and Mal had a beautiful house outside of the city near the wine country. There was a backyard that the kids played in that became the site of frequent get togethers.

The previous summer they all got ridiculously drunk, which somehow ended with Mal and Cobb off into their bedroom while Arthur and Eames traded barbs outside until the sun came up. Eames was sleeping off a hangover while Arthur sat outside with Mal. She told him that there wasn't anyone she trusted more with her family then him. She told him that she knew he would always keep them safe but she made him promise to just the same. It was a good memory and he latched onto it as they pulled up to the house. The anger was back but he kept it under control at least for now. That's what he was doing right now; he was trying to keep them safe.

"Like ripping off a bandaid," Arthur said. It was just past noon and he could hear everyone moving around the house. It only took two knocks for Cobb to answer the door. He looked surprised and then happy to see them but not guilty. Not even a little.

"I can't believe you two are here. I don't think Mal thought you would listen to her," Cobb said. Mal wrapped Arthur in a tight hug. He didn't really hug her back but that wasn't odd.

"Our chemist asked us to do him a favor," Arthur said. "A new guy to the field by the name of Trev." He watched both of their faces for any sort of reaction and Arthur hated himself because he didn't see anything.

"You know chemists can be," Mal said rolling her eyes. "They want us all to be their glorified dealers."

"Yeah, they really shouldn't do that," Eames said. He reached into his pocket and tossed one of the bottles to Cobb. Arthur didn't really care if it fell and broke; that would be one less vial for Cobb and Mal to use.

"You got me a souvenir in the form of a shampoo bottle?" Cobb asked with a laugh when he caught it.

"We got you six to be exact." Arthur said. They set the five other bottles out on the foyer table, Arthur crossed his arms, and waited.

"I don't get it," Cobb said but Arthur fixed his gaze on Mal. She wasn't smiling anymore because she knew exactly what was in those bottles.

"They smell pretty great. You should open them up and take a whiff," Eames said.

"I don't think that's really necessary," Cobb said chuckling. Arthur narrowed his eyes at Mal because she remained silent.

"Oh really? I think it is," Eames said. He picked up one of the bottles and dumped the thick liquid that kept the vial safe until the Somnican was in plain view. Cobb opened his mouth to say something but Mal put a hand on his arm.

"They already knew, dear," she said softly. A long silence followed that was only interrupted when Phillipa and James came running in excited to see them. Eames picked them both up with ease and threw them over his shoulders. Eames was still angry but he wasn't about to get into a shouting match in front of James and Phillipa. Eames was putting on a front for the sake of the kids; Arthur had plenty of reasons why he wanted to kiss Eames but this one was a little different.

"Come on you little buggers," he said, walking them into the living room. Cobb followed after Mal removed her hand from his arm. Then it was just Arthur and Mal standing in the foyer.

"Let's step outside," she said.

"Probably for the best," Arthur replied. They ended up on the far end of the porch as far away from where Cobb was with Eames as possible. Arthur leaned against the railing, crossed his arms, and waited for some sort of excuse.

"We're studying depth," Mal said.

"You said you weren't dreaming anymore," Arthur replied. He let that sharp edge creep into his voice, the one that made incompetent people flinch while Eames smirked in the background. "You looked me in the eye and told me you were done."

"I know I did," she replied.

"So what happened? Did you fall off the wagon or something? Because no one knows more about going cold turkey than I do besides maybe Eames." Arthur stared her down but Mal didn't even look sorry. If anything she looked defiant.

"No, we never stopped." Mal said and that was all the holding it in he could take. He pushed away from the railing and ran his fingers roughly through his hair.

"I thought I could trust you but apparently my instincts were wrong," he said.

"No, no, Arthur you absolutely can trust me," Mal said touching his arm. "It's the only lie I've ever told you."

"For all I know that could be a lie," Arthur snapped. "Depth is dangerous, Mal, you know that. You've seen people get the plugs pulled from life support because there was nothing there. You've seen those that can't tell the difference between the dream and the reality. For fuck's sake, Mal; you studied those people, and yet here you are trying to drop down how many levels?"

"We've only done two so far, but the second level was amazing, Arthur. It was so different from a single level dream. Everything was so potent and felt so real-" Arthur held up a hand to silence her and, for once, Mal stopped mid thought.

"You're a mom. You have two kids who need you," Arthur said.

"But I'm a researcher as well. We're working on the reality issue, I have a theory, and I think you'll like it." Mal smiled and Arthur knew he shouldn't let her continue. For some reason if she told him about this theory that would somehow make it seem like he accepted what they were doing. She was so earnest though, so sharp and dangerous, and her passion was catching. "I call them totems."

* * *

Eames didn't hear any screaming from the porch but he never really expected Arthur and Mal to get into a screaming match. They would circle each other, staring the other down with dark eyes and sharp smiles, until one relented. Eames had seen Mal do this in a dream, watched her control an entire room with just a smile, and he hoped that Arthur wouldn't fall for it. He let Phillipa and James lead him around the house, show them their new toys, and Cobb followed like he was worried Eames would do something to his kids.

"How about I make you a deal?" Eames said. "You two go play in your rooms for a wee bit, all right? Be good and James, the next time we visit I'll make Arthur give you a piggy back ride until he can't walk anymore and Phillipa? I'll make him let you do his hair. Deal?"

"You have to pinky swear, Eames," Phillipa said. James nodded despite the fact that he probably didn't know what a pinky swear was.

"Of course." Eames crossed his arms and offered each of them his pinky. James watched his sister and mimicked shaking Eames' pinky. They both ran off to their rooms, leaving Eames alone with Cobb.

"Arthur is never going to agree to that," Cobb said.

"Don't let my calm exterior around kids fool you Cobb. I'm fucking furious at you," Eames snapped. Cobb flinched like Eames had physically hit him, and Eames briefly entertained the notion of hitting him just to make a point. "Arthur is going to take the lying much worse than I will because I make my living by lying."

"You're not angry we lied?" Cobb asked surprised.

"No, I said Arthur will take it worse than I will, not that I wasn't angry about it." Eames shook his head at Cobb and tried to keep his temper under control. "What makes me furious is how you're dropping into dreams to study depth like it isn't a big deal. You know what happens when people get too deep."

"I've studied those people. I think I helped pull the plug once," Cobb replied softly. "But there are so many possibilities, and the second level is even better than the first. It isn't stable but we're-"

"You almost lost her, Dominic!" Eames practically screamed, and he stepped directly into Cobb's face, lowering his voice considerably. "You were a wreck when she was missing, when we thought she was dead, and now you're going to risk her after that?"

"You were just as bad when Arthur was missing," Cobb said.

"Arthur and I aren't you and Mal. We know what we've signed up for. You're going to study one of the most dangerous aspects of dreaming after she almost died? Becoming comatose isn't the only risk. You could lose track of what's real and what isn't. What happens then?"

"We're working on a system to prevent that," Cobb replied. He was calm and that made Eames want to punch him even more. "I'm sorry we lied but the reason we lied? Because we knew this is how you two would react. We're being careful, Eames, you don't need to worry." Eames had plenty more to say but the front door opened revealing Mal and Arthur so the conversation was apparently over. Also there seemed to be the assumption that they were staying for dinner too. Mal pulled out one bottle of wine and set it on the counter.

"We're going to need more than that," Arthur said. Cobb and Mal looked at each other and set out three bottles.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

It was long. It was one of the worst and longest dinners of Eames' entire life and he had suffered through a lot of them growing up in the upper middle class. Conversations were stilted, and even when the four of them drank two bottles of wine tensions didn't ease. The kids helped by being kids. Eames was going to treasure the glare he got from Arthur when Phillipa announced her intention to do his hair next time they visited. Dom and Mal were putting the kids to bed while Arthur glared at the living room table and Eames resisted the urge to pull him into a hug. They didn't do that, hugs for comfort, but Eames knew he was right when he told Cobb that Arthur would take the lying much worse than the dreaming. There wasn't a single moment in the last three hours where Arthur looked relaxed. It was giving Eames second hand neck pain.

"Pretty sure they're asleep," Cobb said as he walked into the living room with Mal.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of hint that this can't turn into a shouting match again?" Eames asked.

"We've both said our piece and there's nothing more to add to it," Mal said. "We're being careful and you don't need to worry."

"The guest room is available if you want it," Cobb said. "Have a good night." They turned and went upstairs toward the master bedroom. Mal was usually one for extravagant goodbyes with kisses on cheeks and threats if they didn't visit soon. Now they were simply left standing in the living room with the implication that they could stay if they want. Eames needed some air and he knew Arthur did as well. It took a little man handling but Eames managed to get Arthur, the third bottle of wine, and two glasses out on the porch without any casualties.

"We're drinking out of glasses? We usually just pass the bottle back," Arthur said as Eames filled the glass.

"We're two classy men," Eames replied, offering a toast. "I only said 'fuck' once to Cobb and only yelled a little. I'm the epitome of class." Arthur shook his head but clinked their glasses together.

"There isn't anything we can really do about this at the end of the day," Arthur said. It sounded almost like Arthur was asking but didn't see the point.

"No, no there isn't." Eames took a drink of his wine. "Once those two get started there's no stopping them. We both know that."

"I don't think they're even sorry. Not about the lying or the fact that they're doing something so incredibly stupid." Arthur downed half his glass and poured himself another.

"Cobb apologized to me for the lying but he only did it to clear his conscience." Eames poured himself more wine and debated whether or not they could call a cab to take them to the nearest motel. "They're bright, though, and their connection to each other should help ground them in reality." Arthur hummed in agreement, and they didn't say anything to each other as they finished the bottle. They couldn't drive so they at least had to sleep off the wine. Arthur dropped the bottle in recycling while Eames put the glasses in the sink. Eames felt sedated, and a little drunk, so he was more than happy when Arthur pushed him against the guestroom door to kiss the breath from his lungs. It always felt a little dirty whenever they touched while at Cobb and Mal's house, but this time it felt a little like revenge.

Arthur wrapped himself up in Eames so there wasn't even a breath between them. Arthur must have been a little drunk too, because neither of them tried to dominate the kiss like usual. Instead they kept it slow and Eames only laughed a little when Arthur stumbled as they tried to walk to the bed.

"You're such an ass," Arthur said as he pulled Eames down on the bed with him.

"It's part of my charm," Eames said and decided that marking up Arthur's skin was the thing of the night. Arthur hated it when Eames left visible marks on him, but they always left bruises on each other one way or another. Their shirts were off and Arthur was about to put a hand in Eames' pants when there was a knock on the door. "Cobb is here to shoot me." Eames whispered fiercely.

"Cobb won't shoot you," Arthur said. "Mal might but she'd probably go for me first."

"Good, you distract her and I'll make a run for it, though if she tells her father he'll make it worse. Maybe we should go down together," Eames mused.

"I'm glad that the only reason you want to fight together is because the alternative is worse." Arthur dug his nails into Eames' side and he contemplated finishing what they started when there was another knock.

"Arthur? Eames? Are you in there?" That was Phillipa, because of course it was one of the kids. It was after midnight so there was no telling what this was about. Eames sighed, pulled away from Arthur, and made himself presentable for a three years old. Philipa's eyes were tear streaked, she looked scared, and Eames felt like the worst person ever for making her stand out there. "I had a bad dream but mommy and daddy told me not to come in if there was a hair tie on the door and there is one and I'm scared-" Eames wanted to strangle Cobb for being an idiot since they were probably dreaming right now. Maybe out of spite or revenge. They were high strung and obsessive perfectionists which made them perfect academics that didn't know how to stop working.

"Come on little one. Arthur and I are going to sleep for a little while and you can stay with us." Eames knew he was pretty good with kids. He had lots of younger cousins growing up, so he knew staying with them would do the trick. Arthur did what he did best, went with the flow. Phillipa sandwiched herself between them and settled down. She already looked better.

"Do you want to tell us about your nightmare?" Arthur asked.

"I dreamed mommy and daddy never woke up," she replied sleepily. Arthur met Eames' eyes across the bed and shook his head. Sometimes Eames wished he could still dream. He never thought he would miss nightmares, but a nightmare that could be reality seemed worse than a dream that definitely wasn't. "You guys are the best. I love it when you visit." With those words Phillipa drifted off to sleep. Eames couldn't help it; he laughed to himself.

"What's so funny?" Arthur whispered.

"I just realized we're the cool uncles," Eames replied. Arthur smiled and they bumped fists. A few hours of sleep and they would leave before dawn. If dinner was bad breakfast would be even worse. There was no alcohol and the coffee wouldn't be ready yet. It was a recipe for disaster. "Dawn?"

"Earlier if possible," Arthur said because he knew exactly how bad it could get. Eames laid down and closed his eyes; he just hoped Phillipa didn't have another nightmare.

* * *

The sun wasn't up when Arthur woke up which was good. It meant that Cobb and Mal were still asleep, and maybe leaving without having to talk to them made him a coward, but Arthur liked to think of it as being practical. The sting of being lied to and the fact that they were dabbling in some of the most dangerous aspects of dreaming made it hard for him to think logically. Arthur poked Eames in the ribs to wake him up. They both slipped out of the bed and gathered the very few belongings that they had. Arthur hated sleeping in clothes but with Phillipa there he didn't really have much of a choice.

"You bring her upstairs," Eames whispered. "You're like a well dressed ninja."

"Your sense of humor never fails to amuse, Mr. Eames," Arthur whispered back. Eames grinned as he got the rest of their things together. Arthur picked up Phillipa and carried her her carefully up the stairs to her room. She didn't even stir until he set her down on her own bed.

"Arthur? Are you leaving?" she asked.

"Yeah, Eames and I have an early flight. You go back to sleep," he said.

"Will you visit again soon?" Phillipa yawned and settled into her own bed. Lying to a little kid seemed wrong and he wasn't sure if he could ever trust Cobb and Mal again.

"As soon as we have the time we'll come visit," Arthur said which wasn't entirely a lie. They did tend to keep busy after all. Phillipa smiled and drifted off to sleep. Eames was waiting by the front door by the time Arthur emerged. He didn't have a key but he knew where Cobb kept the spare so he locked the door from the outside and put the key back above the doorframe. "She asked when we were going to visit again."

"And what did you tell her?" Eames asked as they climbed into the car.

"As soon as we have the time," Arthur repeated. They were halfway back to the city before either of them spoke again. "Next flight to New York?"

"Let's get some sleep in a hotel and fly out tomorrow. I could use some food that isn't from an airport restaurant to counter all the wine in my stomach," Eames replied. Arthur smiled and made a call to one of the hotels near the airport that he knew served a good breakfast. There wasn't anything they could do for Cobb and Mal now. They were adults and they said they were going to be careful. Arthur wondered if he kept thinking 'it will work out' over and over again it would somehow become reality.

* * *

Despite the fact that Arthur denied it to Eames their trip back to New York ended up being almost a vacation. There wasn't one call for work in two months and Arthur felt more rested than he had in years. They wandered the city and went to the bar where they met all those years ago. Arthur nearly sprained something from laughing when Eames chased after a kid that took a woman's purse and dragged the kid back by his ear, forcing him to apologize and give it back.

"So stealing bank accounts from CEO's is kosher but taking purses from old ladies isn't?" Arthur asked.

"I think we've already established that you and I have a very flexible moral code," Eames replied. Arthur sighed and Eames told him if he rolled his eyes any harder they would roll straight out of his skull.

A few days later Arthur got a job offer to find out whether or not a businessman was having an affair. It was simple, one level, and they didn't even need a forger. Eames shrugged and offered to tag along anyway because 'you never know when you'll need my unique skill set.' The job was local, and it was a good thing that Eames stuck around, because the extractor begrudgingly admitted that this man wasn't going to trust anyone. Arthur contemplated punching that smug look off of Eames' face just to teach him some humility.

It was four in the morning the day before the job when Arthur's phone woke him up. He immediately hated whoever was on the other line out of principle alone. Next to him in bed Eames swore loudly. Arthur checked the number but it wasn't one that he recognized. That was strange because there were very few people in this world that had this number without Arthur having theirs. Eames must have sensed his reluctance to pick up the phone and looked at the caller ID.

"That country code is Brazil," Eames said. "Who do you know that's in Brazil?"

"I don't know anyone, which is why this concerns me," Arthur replied. "We have back up bags in case we need to run, right?"

"Always." Eames moved close so he could eavesdrop on whoever was on the phone. Arthur hit the button and took the call.

"Hello?"

"Arthur, thank god you picked up," Cobb said breathlessly.

"Cobb? Why the hell are you calling me from Brazil?" Arthur asked as Eames frowned deeply.

"Something happened." Cobb said and it was like someone dropped a lead ball in his stomach. "She's dead Arthur, Mal is dead, and they think I did it. Oh god, they think I killed her."

"Slow down," Eames said loud enough that Cobb could hear. "Start from the beginning."

"Mal is dead and they thought I did it. I had to get out so I called in a few favors and got out of the country but now I'm stuck and I don't know where to go or what to do. I know you guys are mad at me but please, I need your help, please." Cobb babbled but Arthur was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Mal was dead.

"How did this happen? How did she die? Why do they think you did it?" Arthur asked in quick succession, but he dodged the questions.

"I don't have much time left on this phone. I can tell you everything but you have to come to me. I can't go back to the states." Cobb sounded like a wreck.

"James and Phillipa?" Eames asked.

"With Miles and Marie. Please, I need your help, please," Cobb was practically begging. Arthur glanced at Eames but he was already halfway across the room turning on a laptop.

"We have a job tomorrow but as soon as we finish we'll come to you. What's your location?" Arthur picked up a piece of paper and jotted down a few details. "We'll find you. And Cobb? I expect an explanation for this." Whatever Cobb had to say to that was cut off by a helpful voice telling Arthur that the caller ran out of minutes and they were sorry. Arthur joined Eames by the computer and there was a new article on the screen.

"They were at that hotel they spent their wedding night in," Eames said softly. "It was their anniversary. They seem to think that Cobb pushed her out the window and now there's a warrant for his arrest. Whatever evidence they have must be pretty compelling." Arthur read over the article a few times but couldn't wrap his head around it.

"Cobb and Mal were many things but they'd never hurt each other," Arthur said and Eames nodded. "We can't back out of the job. Let's finish it and go see Cobb. Maybe he can shed some light on this." Eames nodded and he let Arthur have the computer. Arthur started to look into flights as Eames called several people and talked in flawless Spanish. He was in shock, Arthur thought, because he was having trouble processing that Mal was dead. The last conversation they had was an argument and an awkward dinner. Arthur snapped himself back into reality and focused; they had a job to do and an explanation to receive.

* * *

Arthur didn't believe in luck, yet he couldn't help but feel relieved that their job went off without any problems. He always knew it was a basic extraction but that didn't really mean much. Over the many years of being in this business Arthur knew better than to let his guard down just because a job seemed on the easy side. The CEO they were extracting from had a lot of guilt about the not one but two mistresses he was keeping on the side and he sang like a canary to Eames. From there Arthur just had to convince the rest of their team that they couldn't stick around for the clean up. He expected it to be a problem, but Eames wove an impossible story about family emergencies and might have let his eyes glisten with tears a little. Their extractor wasn't any less susceptible to Eames' charms than anyone else on the planet and let them leave right after the job was done. Several hours later Arthur was sitting in first class heading to Brazil.

"Kind of surreal," Eames said, breaking the silence.

"That's certainly one way of putting it," Arthur replied. "I'm not sure I've wrapped my head around it yet that she's really dead. We need to get in touch with Miles and make sure the kids are okay."

"Let's try and relax a little before we run halfway around Brazil to find Cobb," Eames paused. "And we're going to find out what happened to her." Arthur didn't have a reply to that but he was grateful when he came back from the bathroom and his computer was gone. Eames didn't even try to hide the fact that he had put it somewhere so Arthur would get some sleep. There really was too much to do but Eames was right; they should get in some rest before this started. Arthur put his seat back and closed his eyes, thankful for the fact that he didn't dream.

The announcement that they were landing jerked Arthur from a surprisingly restful nap. It wasn't that Arthur didn't like Rio de Janeiro, he just didn't like why he was here. Once they were through security and into the city it didn't take them more than four hours to find Cobb. The man had no idea how to cover his tracks. Arthur knocked on the hotel room door and Cobb just opened it instead of checking to see who was on the other side.

"Oh thank god you're here," Cobb said. There were dark circles under his eyes and it looked like he hadn't slept in a few days. Arthur was about to lecture him about opening doors for people he didn't know but the shake in Cobb's hands stopped him.

"Yes, we're here, so are you going to tell us what happened?" Arthur asked after Cobb let them both into the hotel room. Cobb paced the room a few times as if he was trying to get himself together.

"We were at the hotel where we spent our wedding night for our anniversary," Cobb said. "I opened the door and it looked like someone had ransacked the room. Broken furniture, smashed glasses, everything, but then I saw what looked like someone outside the window. I looked outside and there was Mal. She had apparently called her lawyer and told him that she felt threatened by me. She said we should jump together but I tried to talk her out of it. She was in another room across from ours so I couldn't reach her. Eventually, she just...let herself fall." Cobb's voice cracked and it sounded like he was about to start crying.

"Mal's never been depressed before," Eames said. "and why would she try to get you to jump with her? Why would she leave the kids behind? Does this have anything to do with those experiments with depth you two were doing?" Cobb opened his mouth to say something, probably to deny it, but he stopped himself.

"What happened?" Arthur repeated.

"We got careless and went too deep. We woke up in limbo with almost no idea how we got there," Cobb whispered.

"I can't believe you two kept pushing after we warned you not to," Arthur said, though he was getting dangerously close to screaming. "Time is different the further down you go; how long?"

"I know! Believe me I know!" Cobb took a deep breath and released it. "Fifty years. She couldn't accept it when we woke up. She thought we were still dreaming and had to kill ourselves to wake up. It's why she tried to get me to jump with her but didn't hurt the kids. She convinced three different psychiatrists that she was sane."

"She had you implicated for the murder," Eames said. "and you decided to prove you were innocent by running away? What do guilty men do?"

"I didn't kill her and I couldn't risk it. My lawyer got a for me a flight out of the country and here I am. I need to buy my way back," Cobb replied. Arthur massaged his temples to try and ward off the impending headache. There was absolutely nothing about this situation that was good. Eames was right; running away just made Cobb look even more guilty. What he had worried about, Mal and Cobb going too deep and getting lost, happened, and now one of them was dead. "I need your help. I can be your architect and we can be a team. You guys always find high paying jobs. A few big payouts and I can buy my way back to my kids."

"We need to discuss this," Arthur said effectively cutting Cobb off. "Stay here for one more night and we'll meet you in the morning with a decision about where we'll go from here." Cobb nodded several times and smiled gratefully like he knew what their decision was going to be.

"We need tequila," Eames said as soon as the hotel door closed.

"Maybe more than one bottle," Arthur replied. Eames bought them a good bottle of tequila while Arthur found them a hotel room close to Cobb. By the time he walked into the air conditioned room Arthur just wanted to collapse. Eames took a long pull straight out of the bottle and handed it to Arthur. The tequila burned down his throat but it was a good burn. They passed the bottle back and forth until everything was starting to get a little fuzzy around the edges.

"There's something he's not telling us," Eames said.

"Yeah but I can't tell what it is," Arthur agreed. "Hell, I can't even tell if he's lying." A beat of silence passed and Arthur took a long pull from the bottle. "We don't think he killed her."

"No, I don't think he did," Eames said. He took the bottle from Arthur, drank some more, and set it on the table next to their bed. "We can't just leave him here either."

"And he'll probably need to buy himself back into the states now that he's effectively admitted guilt by running. I need to have a long talk with his lawyer about how to prove your client is innocent." Arthur sighed and let the tequila numb him around the edges. He wasn't even sure how to mourn Mal because she was such a strange fixture in his life. They were close before Arthur and Eames caught them in the lie. Now she was dead and Arthur was contemplating dragging Cobb into the seedy underworld.

"Who the fuck are we kidding? Of course we're going to help that idiot," Eames mumbled. For some reason it was one of the funniest things Arthur had heard in a long time. They ordered room service to combat the alcohol in their systems and got into bed before the sun was even down. Without even thinking about it Arthur let Eames pull him close. They never cuddled, that wasn't them, but this was a vastly different situation. Arthur closed his eyes and drifted off to the feeling of Eames breathing on the back of his neck.

* * *

Eames wasn't sure what was worse; how awkward Arthur looked when Cobb nearly crushed him with a hug or the way Cobb was near tears as he whispered 'thank you, thank you, thank you' over and over again. Arthur managed to get Cobb's octopus arms off of him only for Cobb to turn his attention on Eames to do the exact same thing. He only let Cobb hug him for a few seconds before Eames pushed him off. There weren't many people in the world that he was willing to hug for a long time and Cobb certainly wasn't one of them. Eames got to work building Cobb a new identity to travel with while Arthur began to make some phone calls about jobs they could work. When Arthur suggested some down time Cobb just said that he wanted to get back to his kids sooner rather than later. It wasn't the best idea but Cobb seemed adamant.

Arthur could understand his need to get back to his kids. Their previous fight didn't matter anymore; Cobb was a friend that needed their and Arthur was going to give it. He hadn't agreed with Cobb and Mal studying depth but Arthur also understood their curiosity and how they couldn't let dreaming go. It was a drug that got into their system and wouldn't let them go despite how much logic dictated otherwise. Despite how much he didn't want to admit it Arthur knew that if he was in the same position he probably would have done the same thing. Cobb and Mal would have taken care of him if he was the one that needed help. He knew for a fact that Cobb and Mal had lied to several people and said they had no idea who Arthur and Eames were to protect them. Despite how disappointed he was Arthur knew he was going to help Cobb in every way he could and not just out of obligation. Mostly because he could see the roles easily reversed and Cobb and Mal would have helped him.

It took almost two weeks for Arthur to find someone who was willing to bring a point man, forger, and architect in on a job. These days it seemed like more and more people were becoming teams instead of just hiring freelancers. Eames, on the other hand, spent the entire two weeks building the most elaborate identity he could for Cobb. He and Arthur had plenty of passports and names they could travel under but Cobb could get extradited to the States if he went into the wrong country. Eames had just finished when Arthur found them a job.

The extractors name was Crystal and Eames had worked with her before. She was a petite woman, rail thin, but Eames once watched her take out a bodyguard that was twice her weight at least. She was fierce, competent, and loved taking on jobs that paid extremely well. She was also wanted for murder in three different countries.

They were going to be extracting a series of bank accounts from a highly paid lawyer in Oslo, Norway named Ruben Freberg. There were rumors that has was not only taking bribes from the opposing side but turning to his own side and asking for even higher bribes to defend the right person. The latest person caught in the middle was a rather well off man, Anders Thorkelson, whose son Klaus was currently stuck in prison because Thorkelson couldn't meet the bribe demands and couldn't prove that Freberg was extorting him wasn't anything they could do about the prison sentence, at least not right now, but Thorkelson wanted Freberg to lose everything for what he did. So like most people above a certain tax bracket he thought the best way to destroy a man was to take his money.

"Boring," Eames said when he finished reading what Arthur got from Crystal on the plane. "Do these people care about anything in the world but money?"

"You're asking the wrong person," Arthur replied, snatching the file from Eames' hands.

"Do you think this will be enough?" Cobb asked earnestly.

"It's a start," Arthur said without looking at Cobb. Eames had a bad feeling about this job even if it was a little on the boring side. Crystal was offering a lot of money for some bank account numbers which usually meant there was some sort of wrinkle that she wasn't telling them yet. Eames watched how twitchy Cobb was and didn't want him anywhere near Eames' mind. He hoped they could work it out that Cobb stayed topside but he had a feeling he wouldn't be that lucky.

Crystal met them at the airport and greeted them like old friends. Her curly brown hair was long and hung to her mid back, and her eyes were as large and dark as always. She reminded him of a smaller female version of Arthur. Sly, dark, and extremely deadly. Eames twirled her around a little because Crystal always made her teams greet her like old friends to keep their cover. Cobb looked like his eyes were going to bug out of his head but Arthur just looked amused. She was bubbly, bouncy even, as they walked to her car but as soon as the door closed her entire demeanor changed.

"So this is the architect you told me about?" Crystal said. Arthur was in the passenger seat so they could talk about details while Eames put himself behind Crystal's seat for optimal leg room. Cobb looked extremely uncomfortable in the tiny back seat.

"He was trained by one of the best in the field," Arthur replied which was about as close to a compliment as Cobb was going to get. Crystal glanced at Cobb in the rear view mirror.

"Eames has told me so much about you, Arthur," she said slyly.

"It was all lies I'm sure," Arthur replied dryly.

"Like I believe anything he says," Crystal said, smiling.

"I'm right here, you two. I won't have you ganging up on me." Eames said, but he was smiling. Crystal and Arthur working together was going to be an interesting pairing if nothing else. They were either going to blend flawlessly or clash in a way that would be result in spectacular fireworks. Either way Eames was looking forward to it.

There was a car waiting for them when Crystal pulled up to the office building but she didn't seemed too worried about it. She knew them, though, because she pulled out two pistols from the glove compartment and handed one to Arthur and the other to Eames.

"It's our client, but I know you won't feel comfortable without one," she said, but she looked at Cobb. "I don't know him so he doesn't get one."

"What about you?" Cobb asked. Crystal raised an eyebrow and lifted her skirt just high enough that the edge of a thigh holster was visible. Cobb looked a little embarrassed and averted his eyes which was probably for the best. "Shall we?"

"Lead the way, my dear," Eames said. Crystal flashed a smile and walked them through an empty office building until they came to a locked door. She knocked twice, waited a beat, then knocked a third time. A man that looked like he could bench press Arthur opened the door and let them in. An older man with gray hair and a perfectly tailored suit was waiting for them in the middle of the room.

"Mr. Thorkelson, nice to see you again," Crystal said offering her hand.

"Miss. Crystal, is this your team?" Thorkelson asked.

"Yes, they are, no introductions necessary," she said sharply and Eames smiled to himself; he loved working with competent people. "I've explained to my team that you want to take everything that Mr. Freberg owns."

"Not just what he owns; everything," Thorkelson replied darkly. "His home, his business, I want him to lose it all."

"As of right now we are going to focus on draining his savings. If we find anything that could be incriminating enough to destroy his business or his family we'll talk about adjusting our price for that information." Crystal smiled pleasantly but she bared her teeth.

"Freberg is a very private man," Thorkelson said after a moment of silence.

"Then we'll need plenty of time to get everything together," Arthur said. "Are we on a strict timeline for any reason?"

"No, we're not," Crystal answered for Thorkelson. "At least I sincerely hope we aren't."

"No, take all the time you need. Time is all my family has right now," Thorkelson said bitterly, no doubt thinking about his sons prison sentence. "I own this building. You may use it and no one will bother you."

"I prefer to find my own locations, but thank you for the offer," Arthur replied.

"Do we have a deal?" Crystal asked.

"Yes. I will pay each of your team members $150,000 each for his bank accounts," Thorkelson said.

"I'll be in touch to negotiate that number should we find other pertinent information." Crystal held out a hand and Thorkelson shook it. "We'll be in touch." Crystal turned on the heel of her boots and strolled out of the room. Thorkelson looked a little surprised, like he couldn't believe that this tiny woman just steamrolled him, but Crystal always used her small frame to lure people into underestimating her. "Thoughts, Eames?" She asked when they were all in the car and heading back toward the city.

"I don't think he was lying or thinking about betraying us for any reason. If anything he seemed a little taken aback by you, my dear," Eames replied.

"As they should be. Arthur?" Crystal said glancing at Arthur.

"I don't see any reason why there should be any issues. I've dealt with private people before. No one is ever as private as they might appear to be." he said.

"Good," Crystal said as she stopped the car in front of a rental place. "Now get the hell out and get your own cars. We'll convene at whatever location Arthur finds tomorrow at 0900."

"You're as sweet as ever," Eames said. Crystal flashed a smile and sped away, leaving the three of them standing on the sidewalk in her dust. Eames cracked his neck and sauntered up to the desk. "Hello my dear, I'm looking into getting a car," Eames said, his accent suddenly several degrees more posh than usual.

* * *

The next few days were fairly typical for a job by Arthur's standards. He spent a lot of time going over what kind of man Freberg was and how hard it was going to be to find anything about his private life. This meant he made a lot of phone calls, bribed a few people, did some light hacking, and staked out an apartment building one night with Eames. Freberg had a secretary named Janis and after some brief deliberation they decided that she would be the best bet for Eames to forge. Then Arthur had to find ways for Eames to learn about Janis that wasn't going to get him a stalking charge. Cobb began to work on a basic design while Arthur kept in constant talk with Crystal about what they were going to do as far as the actual extraction.

Eames was not entirely happy when he found out that Arthur got him a job doing basic maintenance at Freberg's office, but it let him get close to Janis. Crystal decided that an office building was going to be their best option and Cobb began to modify the maze. Everything seemed to be going smoothly yet Cobb could not relax. Arthur could only assume it was because this was the most illegal thing Cobb had ever done and he was already a wanted man, but something didn't sit right with him. Eames seemed concerned too but he also couldn't pin it down.

"There isn't any indication that he is militarized, but he's a control freak," Eames said three weeks into the job. They were trying to figure out exactly how they were going to go about getting the information.

"Control freaks always jump the gun faster than anyone else," Crystal said. "Arthur, do you mind being the dreamer? We need someone who can keep everything steady until we get the information that we need."

"Sure, I'll start to look over the maze." Arthur said.

"I can show up at a lawyer saying that I'm doing an investigation while Eames forges Janis and lets us in," Crystal said.

"That won't work," Arthur said as he looked over a file. "This guy doesn't take woman seriously. Even if you walk in there and pretend to be the best lawyer in the world he won't believe you."

"Then Cobb will come with me," Crystal said. "If the two of us show up as a team he'll take at least one of us seriously. Can you go into the dream and act the part of a cocky lawyer?"

"I can manage," Cobb said and she nodded.

"So that's settled; Cobb will be my partner. Freberg will project all of his secrets into a file that he'll hand Eames and we'll have everything we need. Sound good?" Cobb nodded but he looked a little uncertain. It made the hairs on the back of Arthur's neck stand on end, but there wasn't any indication that anything was going to go wrong.

A week later and they were going into the dream as a team for the first time. Arthur had the layout memorized and a good idea where he could go if everything went to hell. He finished setting up all of the lines, set the timer for five minutes for this first line, and pushed the button.

* * *

Cobb did good work, Cobb always did good work, and this dream was no different. The office building looked similar to the one that Freberg worked in but was just different enough that no one would forget this was a dream. It was an intricate maze of loops, turns, and paradoxes that had plenty of places for Arthur to run to if needed.

"Excellent work, Cobb," Crystal said. Eames, Crystal, and Cobb discussed the plan a little more but Arthur wandered off a little. He wanted to make sure everything in the dream looked solid. There were a few projections wandering around but no one that seemed to notice or care that he was there. Arthur turned down a hallway and there was a gunshot. The sudden pain in his stomach knocked the air out of Arthur's lungs as he stared at the blood on his hands. It never got any less surreal when this happened but everything was stable. There wasn't even a hint that things were about to go south.

"I can't imagine how much that must hurt," an all too familiar voice said. Arthur looked up and watched as Mal emerged from the room at the end of the hallway, gun in hand. "A through and through wound that misses all the necessary organs so all the victim can do is bleed out." Arthur tried to take a step back away from her but the blood loss and pain were too much. He stumbled and collapsed to the ground as he slowly began to bleed to death.

"Why are you here, Mal?" Arthur asked.

"I'm trying to help Dom, of course, and I can't have you getting in the way. I'm sure Eames will be here soon. You two are always more dangerous when you're together," Mal replied. She knelt down next to Arthur and pressed the gun to his knee. "Say one word, my dear, and I'll make it so you can't even walk when you wake up." Someone was running toward them and Arthur hoped it was Crystal because she would shoot first and ask questions later. The universe was not on his side because it was Cobb of all people that came around the corner.

"Mal?" Cobb said his voice small and broken.

"Hello my love," Mal replied pleasantly, like she wasn't letting Arthur bleed out on the ground.

"Shoot her, Cobb," Arthur said through his teeth.

"Dom can't do that." Mal pressed the gun to his knee harder and released the safety. "One more word from you and I'll shoot." Arthur already couldn't see straight he was in so much pain, and the entire dream was going to crumble if he died, but bleeding out always took so long.

"Mal, why did you do this?" Cobb whispered, still not shooting the projection, and Arthur was going to kill him when they got topside.

"I'm trying to help you," Mal said earnestly. "You promised that we were going to be together. You promised we were going to grow old together." Before Cobb could reply Eames came around the corner, gun in hand.

"What the fuck?" he said. Arthur opened his mouth to say 'no', to tell Eames not to hesitate and to just shoot her, but it was too late. Mal was too fast, and she fired three quick rounds into Eames' chest. He stumbled back and collapsed to the ground and trying to stem the bleeding with his hands.

"Cobb, shoot her, she's not real," Arthur yelled. Cobb didn't move. He was frozen and staring at Mal like he'd seen a ghost. Mal put the gun to Arthur's knee and sneered down at him. She was terrifying in a way that the real thing had never been.

"I warned you," she said.

"Cobb, shoot her!" Arthur said, a little frantic now. The pain in his stomach was starting to dull which meant that he was going to die soon, but the thought of Mal putting a bullet in his knee made Arthur feel sick. Cobb just stood there. He didn't even have a gun in hand and he wasn't going to shoot her. Arthur squeezed his eyes and braced himself for the pain. Then the entire world tilted to the side and he was falling.

* * *

Arthur blinked and realized he was lying on the ground of their office. Crystal was standing over all three of and she looked furious. Eames had a hand on his chest and it looked like he was having trouble getting himself back together. Cobb was white as a ghost and shaking. Arthur couldn't hear Crystal over the ringing in his ears but he thought he heard her say something about needing some smokes and storming out of the building. There were awkward silences and then there was the moments after Crystal slammed the door shut.

"What the fuck was that?" Eames asked as he managed to get to his feet. Arthur wasn't quite up for that yet; it had been a long time since he had died slowly in a dream, and his body was still figuring out that it wasn't real.

"Sometimes projections follow us into dreams," Cobb said but his eyes were on the floor.

"Yeah, they do, and when they do we shoot them." Eames held out a hand and helped Arthur to his feet. "You stood there and let Arthur bleed out. You stood there and let her shoot me and you still didn't shoot her."

"She's my wife," Cobb whispered.

"No." Arthur said and Cobb looked at him. "Mal is dead and that wasn't her. She was just a projection."

"Is this going to be an issue?" Eames asked.

"No." Cobb said. "I'm grieving so she's on my mind but it won't be an issue."

"That's not the part I'm worried about," Eames snapped. "It's the fact that you didn't shoot her that I'm worried about." Cobb tensed but kept his eyes on the floor.

"Is this going to be an issue?" Arthur repeated.

"No, I have it under control." Cobb said. Arthur wasn't sure he believed Cobb, and when Crystal came back they decided to call it a day early.

* * *

Apparently Eames and Cobb had very different definitions of 'under control,' because over the course of the next two weeks the projection of Mal literally tore them apart. It didn't matter what they were doing or who was in the dream, if either Arthur or Eames was there she found them and she killed them in the slowest way possible. Eames hadn't had phantom aches since the first few days of the program, when they were still figuring out how pain in dreams worked, but now he felt like an old man. The projection of Mal was vicious and seemed even worse when Arthur and Eames were both in the dream. It was like she knew that they were more dangerous when they were together than when they were apart. That wasn't exactly something that Eames found comforting. Cobb brushed it off every single time they tried to confront him about. He kept saying that he was fine and he had it under control but this projection was different from any that Eames had ever seen before.

When Mal managed to kill Arthur and make the entire level collapse Crystal threatened to walk away from the entire job. She screamed about how that thing was going to ruin everything and how she wouldn't have that unstable mind anywhere near her. It took Arthur and Eames nearly an hour to convince her that they could do this. Arthur swore to her that he would keep the level stable no matter what happened. Eames didn't really like the implications of that but he didn't say anything about it. Crystal finally agreed but she also said that she wouldn't be going on any jobs where Cobb built. Crystal suggested they change the plan and have her go in alone but Arthur told her that they couldn't risk Freberg closing up on them because he didn't trust a female attorney. Crystal still wasn't happy but decided that some changes had to be made to accommodate the new projection.

According to their revised plan as soon as Eames got the file with the information he was to drop his forge and go back up Arthur. Crystal and Cobb were going to find a way to get more information on Freberg to, in Crystal's words, "Make the job worth all of this bullshit." Eames was more than a little inclined to agree.

"She's going to go after you again," Eames said. He was with Arthur at a 24 hour gym across the street from their hotel at three in the morning trying to burn off excess energy. Since they were no where close to sane Arthur and Eames burned off their excess energy by sparring. Arthur rolled his neck and shoulders; watching the muscles in Eames' arms and undershirt distracted him for only a moment.

"Of course she will. Projections always go after the dreamer," Arthur replied.

"The mark's projections go after the dreamer, not some projection of a dead woman that's coming exclusively from our architect." Eames stretched and kicked off his shoes. They were both down to sweatpants and undershirts so it was time to burn off that energy. Arthur smirked, raised his hands, and before Eames could say 'how do you do' ran at Eames. Eames managed to block Arthur's fist, which felt like a rock, but Arthur swiftly avoided his counter attack. There was always the chance they would have to run tomorrow, so they couldn't really hurt each other, but bruises were fair game.

Eames charged forward and volleyed a series of quick punches. Arthur ducked or blocked almost all of them but one to the stomach. He stumbled back a step but regained his footing right away. Arthur swept his foot out and knocked Eames straight on his ass. Eames kicked his own foot and knocked Arthur down. Eames took both of Arthur's wrists and pinned him down to the mat. They were both breathing hard as they stared at each other.

"Ready to go back?" Arthur asked as he licked his lips.

"Yes." The mad scramble for their shoes and clothes would have been funny if they were teenagers, but they were adults, damn it, they should be beyond this. Yet, as soon as the door to their hotel room was closed Eames pushed Arthur to the cool wood and kissed him. It still amazed him to that day how well they just seemed to fit together. Eames knew exactly where to touch Arthur to make him arch and Arthur knew exactly where to touch Eames to make him moan loud enough that they could wake up the people next door. Eames walked the two of them into the room and sat down on the bed, pulling Arthur onto his lap.

Eames couldn't lie; he was a little worried about the job tomorrow, so maybe he kissed Arthur a little harder than usual. Maybe he pulled Arthur so close that they weren't so much in each others space as they were trying to break the laws of physics. Dying slowly in a dream was horrible, and the projection of Mal seemed angrier when they were both in the dream. She seemed more inclined to make Arthur bleed longer, drag the process out even further, and Eames knew how it could linger for days afterwords.

"Hey," Arthur said. His voice was uncharacteristically soft and he took Eames' face in his hands so they were looking into each other's eyes. "We're going to be fine, I'm going to be fine, I can handle it."

"You shouldn't have to deal with that," Eames replied.

"We'll figure something out once this job is done." Arthur didn't let Eames protest anymore; he just shoved Eames back and kissed him. If there was anyone capable of handling a crazy projection it was Arthur. He could pull the trigger on anyone, and if it meant keeping the dream steady for the job Arthur would do anything. Eames just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

* * *

Cobb at least looked a little guilty as they broke into Freberg's apartment. They had bribed the cleaning lady to let them in. Crystal dropped a sedative in a tea kettle and they waited outside until Freberg got himself something to drink. As soon as Freberg was out Arthur began to set up the PASIV.

"Eames, as soon as Freberg hands you that file I want you to go give Arthur back up," she said. "Are you going to be able to find him?"

"Yes," he and Arthur answered instantly. Crystal rolled her eyes and smiled a little but as soon as she looked at Cobb it faded.

"You stay with me and don't do anything stupid. If this goes to hell I'm blaming you," she warned.

"It's going to be fine," Cobb said, but he didn't sound too sure. Crystal got a local friend of hers to watch the PASIV and Eames just hoped no one shot him. Dying in a dream was not the way he wanted to go at all.

"Ready?" Crystal asked and they all nodded. She pushed the button and Eames watched as the entire world bled into white.

* * *

Eames blinked and he was standing in the middle of the office building. There were projections moving around him and he waited a moment to see if they would lash out. No one seemed to care that he was standing there which was a good sign. Eames made his way to the conference room where the rest of the team was waiting. Arthur opened the door and he had the pinched expression he always got when he expected things to go very wrong.

"Are we ready?" Crystal asked and everyone nodded. "Okay, Arthur, go make yourself scarce and try not to get killed by the stalking bitch." Cobb stiffened and for a moment he looked like he was going to try and defend Mal's honor. Eames was glad he stopped because Arthur probably would have busted a blood vessel. "Cobb and Eames, you're with me."

"The dream won't collapse," Arthur said. He didn't say he wouldn't die. That seemed good enough for Crystal.

"Good luck." Arthur was the first to leave and Eames really wished he didn't have to do any forging for this job. He knew something terrible was going to happen because Mal seemed to target them much more when both of them were in the dream. He did have to forge though so Eames rolled his shoulders and let him himself slip into the skin of Janis. She was an older woman with graying hair and kind eyes. She was very unassuming which is why she made the perfect secretary for a big attorney like Freberg. Crystal and Cobb followed Eames across the office and he knocked on the door.

"Mr. Freberg?" he asked.

"No now, Janis," Freberg called out.

"Mr. Freberg, it's very important," Eames said again and opened the door without waiting for permission to do so. It would throw Freberg off his guard and make it easier to get the information from him. Freberg was a cocky young man who thought he was untouchable. His hair was slicked back but it just looked greasy to Eames.

"Janis, who are these people?" Freberg asked.

"Mr. Freberg, my name is Lydia Elliot and this my PA Jim Todd. We're here to serve papers that you're being sued by one Mr. Anders Thorkelson," Crystal said easily. Freberg jerked like someone slapped him but put the cocky facade back into place quickly.

"And what, may I ask, does Mr. Thorkelson think he's going to sue me for?" Freberg asked.

"He's accusing you of accepting bribes and trying to get Mr. Thorkelson to give you bribes." she said.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," Freberg replied. Crystal held out a hand and Cobb handed her a file. "It's all right here." Freberg twitched and stared at the file.

"I think I have the right to see the papers," Freberg said carefully but Crystal smiled sweetly.

"I thought you had nothing to worry about? We have all of your secrets in this file." That was the line that planted the bait. Freberg would think about his secrets and put the numbers in that file. Crystal handed Freberg the file and Freberg almost tore it when he took it from her hands. "Careful Mr. Freberg. We'll be seeing you soon." Crystal turned on her heel and walked out of the office with her head held high. Freberg stared at the file with wide eyes and Eames stood there waiting.

"Mr. Freberg? Would you like me to take care of that?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I would," he said slowly. Freberg handed Eames the file and straightened his shoulders. "I want you to shred it. That idiot Thorkelson isn't getting anything from me."

"Yes sir." Eames took the file and walked out of the office. It was easy to make his way through the office to the conference room. So far the dream was steady so Arthur must be fine. Eames dropped his forge as soon as he closed the door; Crystal and Cobb were waiting. "How long do you need?" Crystal opened the file and began to look through the information.

"As long as possible. We have a code to a personal safe that probably have some good dirt," she said. Cobb looked a little guilty but he helped Crystal without a word.

"I can do that." Eames didn't wait for Crystal to tell him anything else. Mal was somewhere in this building and she was going to tear Arthur apart. Eames just hoped he got there in time.

* * *

Arthur tried not to rely on luck but he considered himself lucky that Freberg's mind didn't seem too twitchy. The fact that Mal was somewhere in the dream looking to kill him was bad enough, but an entire mind gunning for him as well would be worse. It meant he wanted to get as far away from these projections as possible to keep himself safe. The top three floors and the roof were all locked to the public because of 'renovations,' but really they were just a similar maze blocked off from projections. Arthur glanced over his shoulder and easily picked the lock to the abandoned floors. No one saw him but that didn't mean Mal wasn't already up there waiting for him. He locked the door behind him because Eames could get in here himself.

Arthur hadn't told Cobb but he had made a few changes to these floors. Instead of locked doors between each floor the staircases were open so he could easily jump from one floor to the next. He tweaked some of the twists and turns but it wasn't going to be enough to throw off Mal completely. It seemed like she went out of her way to make sure that he died as slowly and painfully as possible. If Cobb knew that Arthur had to stay alive or the job would fall apart then Mal did and she took advantage of that.

He kept his gun in hand but Arthur hadn't heard anyone else moving around the floors. The silence was eerie but he knew it wouldn't last long. He promised the dream wouldn't fall apart, and he was going to make good on that promise. Maybe he wasn't so lucky when the first shot clipped his left shoulder. Arthur took cover and ignored the sting in his arm.

"Did you really think tweaking my husbands maze could keep me from finding you?" Mal called out. Arthur couldn't tell where she was or even where the shot came from.

"Why are you doing this, Mal?" Arthur called out. "You said you're trying to help Dom but causing the job to fail isn't helping. He needs this money to buy his way back to the kids, because you implicated him of murder." Mal's laugh echoed over the maze like he just said the funniest thing in the world.

"Oh Arthur, poor, naive Arthur, you really have no idea what's going on here, do you?" Arthur saw movement around a corner and fired a few shots but wasn't sure if he hit her. He crept forward and followed the flash of brown curls. He knew exactly where he was going and he wasn't stupid enough to think that Mal wasn't leading him exactly where she wanted.

"I'm not going to let you ruin this for us," Arthur said. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that his back was clear and went around a corner.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Mal said from behind him. Arthur turned, his gun raised, but Mal knocked it out of his hand so hard she snapped several of his fingerbones. He powered through the pain, tried to hit her, but Mal blocked his punch like he was a child. He was about to dream up something to stop her when she dug her nails into his wrist. "Go ahead, dream something up, make this mind aware you're here. I want to watch them tear you apart." Arthur tried to get his arm free of her but her hand was like a vice.

"Why are you doing this?" Arthur repeated.

"It's all just a dream." The first shot punched through his shoulder and the impact made Arthur stumble back a step. Mal fired two more shots into his chest and Arthur knew she missed anything that could make him die quickly. She kicked him in the stomach and Arthur fell onto his back, hard, coughing as he tried to get air back into his lungs. "Perhaps I should take pity on you this time, Arthur. After all, if you die the dream collapses and your job fails." Mal raised her gun and pointed it directly at his head. Arthur stared down the barrel of the gun and refused to look away. A shot rang out but it wasn't from Mal. He blinked and Arthur watched as Mal fell to the ground. Bits of skull and brain were on the ground and her dead eyes stared at him.

"You're late," Arthur said as Eames ran over and knelt down next to him.

"I got caught up in your stupid maze," Eames replied as he looked at the wounds.

"Can you move me? I don't want to look at-" Arthur cut himself off and nearly bit through his tongue as Eames moved them around a corner so they were away from Mal. Arthur blinked the spots from his vision at he stared at the ceiling. "How long?"

"It's been long enough. I'll call them and we'll get you out of here," Eames said.

"No. I said I wouldn't let this dream collapse until the job is done and that's what I intend to do." Arthur took a shallow breath and released it slowly. "Will you-?"

"Like you even need to ask, idiot," Eames said.

"Don't make me laugh you jackass," Arthur said, smiling. Eames watched him for a moment until he lay down next to Arthur. Eames lay on his side and put his mouth next to Arthur's ear so neither of them had to talk very loud. "Mal told me about a theory she had. About how to tell the difference between reality and a dream."

"We saw how well that worked out," Eames grumbled.

"Yes, but it's still a good idea. She called it a 'totem.' An object that only you could recreate because only you know the weight or an imperfection or something like that. It couldn't hurt anyway." Arthur coughed and he could taste some blood on his lips.

"That's enough out of you," Eames said shushing him. "You just keep listening to my voice and I'll tell you about some of the incompetent people I worked with when we were pretending not to know each other." There was something about Eames' voice that was soothing in a way that nothing else ever could be. It was probably because of how much Arthur trusted Eames. The pain in his chest hurt enough to make his eyes water but he refused to let the tears fall. That felt like letting her win. When Arthur clenched his fist without the broken fingers in pain Eames paused to let Arthur grasp Eames' hand. It felt like a tether, like it grounded him a bit more, and Arthur listened as Eames whispered stories into his ear.

* * *

It took nearly two hours for the dream to tilt and the job to end. Eames opened his eyes and immediately rushed to Arthur's side. He was pale and looked like he was going to be sick but all he did was excuse himself outside. Eames watched him go and was so angry at Cobb that he thought he was going to hurt the man. Crystal watched Arthur go and narrowed her eyes. She seemed to understand that it hadn't gone well on Arthur's end.

"We got the bank account numbers as well as plenty of blackmail material," she said without addressing Arthur leaving the room. Cobb starred in the direction that Arthur had walked and looked like he wanted to go say something.

"So we'll be expecting a bigger pay day then?" Eames asked, surprised at how calm he sounded.

"Yes and I'll be sure that he gets a bonus as well." Crystal was a good extractor and an even better businesswoman. She understood that Arthur had gone through hell in this job and that he deserved something more for that. Cobb didn't argue and didn't say anything about it either.

"Excellent. Can you take care of the clean up?" Eames asked and Crystal nodded. "Good, we'll see you in the morning for the final meet up. Good night." He was almost out the door when Cobb took his arm and stopped him.

"Eames, is he okay?" Cobb asked.

"It would be in your best interest not to touch me right now Cobb." Eames warned, and Cobb released his arm. "As for Arthur, he'll be fine. As for you, I'm not as sure." Eames walked outside and found Arthur waiting in the car. He looked a little better but there was still a tremble to his hands that Eames didn't like. They drove in silence until Arthur asked him to stop at a small shop on the side of the road. Eames didn't ask why but Arthur vanished for only a few moments and returned with a small bag and a large bottle of wine. There didn't seem like a better time to get shit faced than right now.

Arthur's hands weren't shaking by the time they got back to the hotel room but he excused himself to the bathroom anyway. Eames sighed and began to dig through his bag to see if he had anything comfortable to sleep in. Instead he found one of the counterfeit poker chips he forged back when he was in Africa. It was right after he and Arthur split up stuck in the seam of the bag. They were perfect save for a misspelling on them and thus were rendered useless. He thought he had thrown them all out yet one must have gotten stuck in the bottom of the bag. Eames flipped the chip and looked it over. He thought about what Arthur told him about a totem. He made these chips, so only he knew exactly how much they weighed. He was the one that painted them and he could see their imperfections. Still, there needed to be more if this was going to work.

Eames pulled out the knife he had strapped to his ankle and carved a small set of numbers in the back of the chip. They were numbers he knew right away and they were numbers only he would know. He was looking over the chip when Arthur emerged from the backroom.

"Why do you have a poker chip?" he asked.

"You said something about making a totem so I made one," Eames replied. Arthur stared at him before he started to laugh. It was a laugh Eames hadn't heard from Arthur since the first time Mal appeared in a dream and shot him. For half a moment Eames was sure the dream had broken Arthur. Instead Arthur sat next to him and opened his hand. A single red die sat in his palm.

"I thought it sounded like a good idea too," he said smiling and shaking his head. "Of course we both pick gambling pieces. Of course." It was good to see Arthur smiling and laughing again but there were very important things they needed to discuss.

"Cobb is off his rocker," Eames said. "I'm very sorry about what happened to Mal too, you know that, but his mind is poisonous. We can't keep going in there and letting it into ours."

"Are you saying we should abandon him?" Arthur asked.

"For our own sanity it would be for the best," Eames replied. Arthur shoved the die into his pocket and walked across the hotel room to the window.

"Do you remember the barbeque we had at the Cobbs' house that one summer?" he asked, and Eames nodded. "You remember how Mal dragged me off to tell me something away from Cobb? She asked me to always protect her family. Cobb is her family, Eames, and I gave her my word." Several comebacks were on the tip of Eames' tongue but he managed to stop all of them. At the end of the day if Arthur gave someone his word about something that was as good as a binding contract.

"She'll tear us apart," Eames said softly. "I think I know what she is. I was thinking about my old days in the program and someone mentioned something called a 'shade.' A persistent and often deadly projection. One of my old mates did a lot of extensive research on them."

"She said we're more dangerous together than we are apart," Arthur said. Eames tensed up because he knew where this was going and he hated everything in the universe for it. Arthur joined him on the bed and sat close enough that they were shoulder to shoulder. "I can try and keep Cobb together, maybe even find out what really happened with Mal, and help him raise the funds needed to buy his way back into the states."

"Meanwhile, I can find loopholes that Cobb could slip through in the law, because no one knows the law better than a criminal, so he can get home, and in the meantime I'll see what I can find on shades," Eames finished, and he laughed bitterly. "She's less aggressive when we're apart. I can't believe we're doing this again. You and I are a much better team than you and him."

"No one is better than us." Arthur replied matter-of-factly, "but yes, I guess we are doing this again. " Eames knocked his shoulder into Arthur's and tried to smile.

"At least this time we can remain in contact and we don't have to pretend we don't know each other." Eames wasn't sure whose mood he was trying to improve or if it really mattered. "And once all of this is sorted out I'm locking you in one of our apartments and you're not leaving for at least a month."

"You have yourself a deal," Arthur said smirking. They ended up not drinking the wine but that was probably better. There was no telling when they would be able to work together again and Eames didn't want this to be another drunken haze. Instead they turned on a bad movie and traded stories like they used to when they first met. Instead they turned on a bad movie and traded stories like they used to back in their shitty New York apartment, when they first met. They made do with bad takeout and ratty clothes back then, but Eames still cherished those moments.

In the morning they would meet Crystal to finish the job and Eames would go off on his own while Arthur fulfilled a promise to a dead woman. Even though they were going to be separated again Eames wasn't worried like he was the last time. What he and Arthur had was unlike anything else, it had no name and it didn't need one, and some distance wasn't going to change that. They were Arthur and Eames, Eames and Arthur, whether they were in the same room or on different continents, what they had wasn't going to change.

_Every time you get angry, you poison your own system. - Alfred A. Montapert_

* * *

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